My Pretty Sweetheart (Arianna)
Chapter 591

I shook my head and replied calmly, "Not really. Have a good rest and remember to take the hangover soup."

After all, he was a person who I had once loved. Even though I had gotten over him, I could not treat him like a stranger.

I got out of the bedroom and went to sleep on the bed in another room.

The lazy, morning sun enveloped Hovell, along with a thick, cool fog.

If one were to start their ascent early to the top of the mountain, they might have caught a glimpse of paradise at the peak.

I got up early because Anne had to go to school. I stood in the bathroom and looked at the woman with the light eyebrows in the mirror. When did the sorrows on my face disappear?

Perhaps I had already let go of the things that ate at my heart the moment I arrived in Hovell. This city was a great place for healing old wounds.

Hendrix had already gotten up and was standing in the yard under the apricot tree. He seemed to be looking at something.

I took a glance at him but did not go forward to disturb him.

He turned his head back and looked at me faintly. "You're awake!"

I nodded and asked casually, "What would you like to eat?"

"Anything!"

I did not say anything in reply. I became increasingly taciturn over the years.

Anne had also gotten up and was a little surprised when she saw Hendrix. Children were such pure, innocent creatures.

She looked at Hendrix and directly asked, "Uncle, why are you in my house?"

Hendrix smiled and replied, "I'm homeless."

Though his words sounded casual enough, I knew the deeper meaning behind them. I lowered my eyes and fell deep into my thoughts. I thought about how after a long time, everyone's heart would eventually dry up and turn into a wasteland, without even a blade of grass growing.

Anne was talkative, and she kept asking Hendrix strange questions.

Hendrix answered each of her questions with fortitude and patience; there was no trace of annoyance or impatience found in his eyes.

He looked at me and said quietly, "I'm almost done with the hotel's business. I'm returning to Jarold City for a few days."

I nodded.

He looked at me, his eyes as deep as the ocean. "Rest well."

Soon after, Evan came to pick him up in a car. He did not bid me goodbye when he left. His only words were 'rest well.'

I watched him leave, my heart as calm as a millpond. He left as he arrived - in silence and without disturbing too much of my peace.

Charles' arrival had breathed new air to the small city. Dion had been dismissed.

Those at the hotel vaguely knew about my relationship with Cecil.

When I was on a short bathroom break, I got a text from lan, informing me that he had returned to Ucrebury and would come in a few days.

I gave him a short reply before switching my phone off. I prepared to leave the bathroom stall.

However, before I could get up, voices were heard from the outside.

"Did you hear about what happened to Cecil's father? He was not only suspended, but is also detained in prison. I heard that the people from the Public Prosecutor's Office had confiscated a lot of money from his house."

"Someone is finally here to punish him after so many years of misconduct. To think about how arrogant Cecil was in the past...look at how ridiculous she looks now."

"I heard that this matter had something to do with Arianna? How does a thirty-year-old woman like her have the ability to do that?"

"She's probably someone's sugar baby, or a mistress perhaps?"

"I don't think so. I heard that she's Charles Reid's daughter, so..."

It wasn't in my best interest to be in a bathroom for long. Thus, I decided to just get up and open the stall door. When I did, the gossip came to an abrupt end.

They all looked towards me and greeted me with forced smiles. "Miss Reid, you're here too!"

I nodded silently. I just washed my hands and left.

When we were young, gossip used to be a source of our sadness. But as we grew older, we would look back and realize that we weren't sad because of the gossip; instead, it was our own incapability that had made us sad.

Those who were capable were not afraid of gossip at all. Gossips were just words that people whom we didn't even care about muttered.

One just had to take these gossips with a pinch of salt. Everyone had been gossiped by others behind their backs. Similarly, everyone had gossiped about others behind others' backs as well.

When I got back in the office, Charles called and said that he was going back to the city for work. The affairs he had come to Hovell to settle were nearing completion.

The county executive's responsibilities were temporarily handed over to the deputy county executive for a few days. Things were to return to normal once the newly appointed county executive arrived in Hovell We were family after all, so I had to see him off. Since there wasn't an airport in Hovell, he would need to get back to the city by car.

After uttering a few quiet, reserved words, he left.

I found myself in a deep trance. Everyone had come so suddenly, and left so suddenly. Once things went back to normal, it felt as though no one had even come by before.

Easter Day had come.

Although Hovell was small, its streets and alleys were teeming with the festivities' ambiance.

Norman suggested that we take the children for a hike to visit the church.

The St. Louis Church was located at the top of a hill east of Hovell. It wasn't crowded with visitors as most people were in the city enjoying the festivities instead of coming over here to worship the Lord.